The Tropical Vacation of Your Dreams

[applesaucemod]

The communal dreams of Manhattan have been downright pleasant lately, haven't they? Here's another sunny day for dreamers to enjoy in their sleep, though of course the tropical climate may prove just a little uncomfortable for northerners. The verdant jungle has its own sort of charm, though, teeming as it is with all sorts of exotic animals.

Make that very exotic animals.

Those who arrive close by any of the old buildings or fences will see that it's been a long time since the humans that made them disappeared. Everything here was once sleek, shiny, and state of the art. Now formerly electric fences stand bent and torn, automated SUVs sit rusting on their tracks or lie smashed to pieces where they were thrown by some enormous creature, and the jungle slowly works to reclaim a mildewy hotel and visitors' center.

Whether one finds oneself in the formless jungle that was once paddocks, in the aviary that would have housed a luxury resort, or even in the halls of what should by all rights be the most heavily fortified hotel in the world, one is always in danger here. The barriers that once separated human from dinosaur have long since fallen. Here dinosaurs have eked out a new ecosystem, the carnivores not particularly bothered about eating herbivores from entirely different epochs…or, for that matter, the funny little hairless apes that have appeared here on occasion. Here one is always in danger of running afoul of hungry tyrannosaurs, stampeding triceratops, or cunning deinonychus velociraptors (they're totally velociraptors, yup). Enjoy the eye-searing venom of that strangely undersized dilophosaurus, by the way, as well as the toxic bite of the swarms of compsognathus. Or maybe the dreamers will luck out, and the worst they'll encounter is an indifferent, bumbling brachiosaurus or an unassuming microceratops. Who here is ever that lucky, though?

Welcome to Jurassic Park.



[Mod note: Same drill as always. All players and characters are welcome, current members or no. Characters will remember or forget any and all dream events at players' discretion. Death in the dream does not result in real death.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Daine grins and offers Aly a little wave. Then, she reluctantly pushes herself upright and slides off the triceratops, landing lightly on the grass. The dinosaur huffs a breath at Aly, but doesn't seem particularly distressed by her arrival.

"Isn't he wondrous?" Daine asks, beaming up at the creature. "We've been talking. His name is Thunder." To the dinosaur, she adds, "This is Aly. She's part of my herd."

Thunder doesn't get up, but does stretch his neck forward to snuffle curiously at Aly.

[aly_brighteyes]

"He's...awesome," Aly says, meaning it in the modern sense she's learned in New York, but also in the sense of how awe-inspiring he is.

In a friendly way, she holds out hands for him to sniff. "Hello Thunder."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine passes the sentiment along, and Thunder blinks, pleased by the compliment. He gently bumps his nose against Aly's outstretched hand in a silent request for scritches.

"The rest of the herd is just over the hill," Daine says, torn between wanting to stay with Thunder and wanting to meet everyone. She thinks she can feel other dinosaurs, too - ones besides the three-horned variety. Goddess, how many different species are in the area?

[aly_brighteyes]

Scritches and pets that Aly is more than happy to provide, running fingers over the dry and pebbly skin. Curious as well, Trick flows down her arm, raising up its little head to say, "Hello."

"Ought we go meet them, if I'm invited aboard?"

[wildmage_daine]

Thunder blinks at Trick as Daine stretches up onto her tiptoes to give his frill a rub. "What do you think, Thunder?" she asks the dinosaur. "Mind introducing us?"

The dinosaur considers for a moment, then gives Daine a fond nudge. Not at all, he assures her. But you'd be better off riding on my back than walking.

"He says it's all right," Daine repeats for Aly's benefit as she climbs back up onto the triceratops. "Come on!"

[aly_brighteyes]

"Give Thunder my thanks." After all, being polite to strange creatures is like being polite to a god. Necessary and possibly lifesaving.

Carefully, she clambers up over a flank and sits carefully. "Is this all right?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine gives Thunder a fond pat while Aly settles herself. "That's fine," she confirms. "He'll take it slow so we don't go tumbling."

Even at an easy pace, it's not a particularly easy ride. A pony's gait is much smoother, and there's not much to hang onto atop a triceratops. But Thunder takes care not to jostle them overmuch, and he's so large that there's a fair amount of sliding room before they're actually in any danger of falling off. They soon crest the hill, beyond which is a sizable herd of other triceratops - cows and calves. Daine grins. "Look at them all!"

[aly_brighteyes]

Aly laughs, even as she has a little trouble holding on. She's used to pretending to be a poor rider to maintain a disguise in front of others but this time it's genuine.

"Goddess," Aly whispers. "Have you ever seen such a thing?"

[wildmage_daine]

If it's any consolation, Daine's not having a much easier time of it. It was much easier for her to sit up on Thunder's back when he wasn't actually going anywhere.

"Never," she replies, eyes shining. She pats the triceratops as he lumbers into the herd. Despite his earlier warning, she can't resist asking, "Mind if we get down? We'll be careful not to get stepped on."

It's not my herd that worries me, Thunder says, turning his head to fix one beady eye on Daine. There are predators here that could swallow you in one bite.

Daine doesn't really want to make Thunder too nervous, so she refrains from pointing out that she could stop any nastier creatures with her magic. Instead, she sends him a wave of reassurance. We'll be fine. If anyone unpleasant shows up, we'll just hop back up.

Thunder lets out a disapproving sigh, but doesn't belabor the point. "We're all right to get down for a bit," Daine says to Aly before carefully sliding off Thunder's back.

[aly_brighteyes]

"We'll be careful," Aly promises. "We are small, but we're good listeners. Careful."

Mercy, it really is like talking to a god. Something old and grand and removed. But in some ways too, much kinder and earthier.

"Thank you."

[wildmage_daine]

It's not long before the both of them are surrounded by curious calves, their sizes ranging from 'large dog' to 'large horse.' Daine is positively beaming as they nose and nudge her. "Yes, hello," she says, holding her hands out for them to sniff. "I'm Daine, and this is Aly."

[aly_brighteyes]

Aly's had her share of animal adventuring with Daine but it's still quite a surprise to have all of those creatures coming to peep at them.

"You really do make friends wherever you go," she remarks, following Daine's example and holding out hands for their perusal.

[wildmage_daine]

"It's easy when they're as nice as this," she admits. If they were dealing with predators, it might be a different story.

The island has been abandoned for long enough that most of these calves have never even seen a two-legger before, let alone met one. Fortunately, this means they've no particular reason to fear humans - but it also means they have no idea just how breakable two-leggers can be. "Careful," Daine admonishes when an overenthusiastic nosing almost knocks her off her feet. "We're not so sturdy as you, I'm afraid." She starts to pick her way through the crowd, both to greet more dinosaurs and to stop her and Aly from getting too surrounded to go anywhere.

[aly_brighteyes]

"If only all new people were as nice."

Aly giggles, even as she's almost bowled over herself. It's quite a shock, but in no way a bad one. "I hope I remember this when I wake up."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine throws her a lopsided grin in agreement. This is why she prefers the People to two-leggers much of the time.

"Me, too," she says with feeling. She's usually good about remembering these things, but now she really hopes she does. Now that she's met these creatures, would she be able to take their shape? "Maybe I'll be able to take their shape when I wake up."

[aly_brighteyes]

"If you try, you've got to let me watch when you do it." Ever since she was a child, Daine's gifts have fascinated Aly and it's no different now.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's grin widens. It was only a little over a year ago that she first showed Alanna's children her shifting ability. Thom had shown a little restraint when confronted with Daine in the shape of a fluffy wolf, but Alan and Aly had all but thrown themselves on her. Fortunately, wolves are sturdy enough creatures to withstand a couple of toddlers (not least of all because Alanna had been laughing too hard to pull her children off in any kind of hurry). It's strange to think that what was only a year ago for her was more like fourteen years ago for her niece, but Aly's curiosity doesn't seem to have lessened at all over the years.

"Deal," Daine agrees. "Anyway, we'll need someone there to stop other folk panicking." The rebels at the base have grown used to her and her animal friends, to the point where most just assume any non-native animal in the base is her in a shape. But she's never been able to take dinosaur shape before, and the last thing she needs is for folk to think she's some sort of rift mischief.

[aly_brighteyes]

"Oh I don't know, I think it'd be quite entertaining to watch them puzzle over a three-horn as it surveys the base," Aly says, playing mischievous.

After all, her patron god is a trickster. She can't help it.

[wildmage_daine]

Oh, yes - until Kuiv shoots her or something. Daine shakes her head. "That's assuming I could survey much of it," she says as she eyeballs one of the female triceratops. "I expect the halls would be a tight squeeze." Any experimenting she does will probably have to be done in the training yards, elsewise, she'll risk getting stuck.

[aly_brighteyes]

"You couldn't take the shape of a calf?" Aly asks. She's well-aware of Daine's many powers, though the nuances always seem to vary.

"I'll stay by if you do."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shakes her head with a rueful little smile. "Any time I take a shape, I'm the same age - not in years, exactly, more like in development. I couldn't take the shape of an old animal, either." Not that it's much of a limitation. Being a calf or a cub or a pup would be fun, but not especially useful.

[aly_brighteyes]

"I suppose it makes sense." But Aly's still curious about the possibilities that such a thing presents. Her own aspect of the Gift often fails to impress Aly, though it is useful, but she still thinks she'd like her mother's Gift or Daine's.